How can designers think like business executives, and vice versa? What’s the difference with designing for cities and countries rather than companies?

These are some of the topics that will be explored when the global business and design leaders gather in Singapore next March 6-8 for the 2018 Brainstorm Design conference.

Twenty new names have been added to the speaker roster for the conference jointly organized for the first time by the editorial teams behind Fortune, Time, and Wallpaper* magazines, with the support of the DesignSingapore Council (Dsg) and Singapore Economic Development Board.

Other eminent speakers include prominent business leaders from across Asia, Europe and the United States, comprising Autodesk vice president of experience design Maria Giudice, SAP chief design officer Sam Yen and Netyear president and CEO Fujiyo Ishiguro.

Leading names in architecture and design will bring the designer’s point-of-view to the table, among them Mark Dytham, co-founder of Klein-Dytham Architecture and PechaKucha, a networking events for the design community; Norihiko Shinya, vice president of internationally celebrated Japanese interior design firm Super Potato; and Kashiwa Sato, founder of Toyko-based Samurai.

Johnson & Johnson’s chief design officer Ernesto Quinteros, IBM general manager for design Phil Gilbert and Google vice president of material design Matías Duarte will weigh in from a big business perspective. Design consultants such as IDEO partner and executive managing director for Asia, Charles Hayes, Frog chief executive Harry West, McKinsey partner and Lunar chief executive Derrick Kiker, and Fjord’s chief client officer Mark Curtis will share their experiences of how they’ve tapped on design thinking principles to lead business transformation for their clients. Further to that, Danish Design Centre CEO Christian Bason how the approach can be adapted for city planners and public policy makers to better prepare for the future.

Academics and published authors such as John Cary, Foundation Capital Partner Steve Vassallo, and University of Virginia Darden School of Business professor Jeanne Liedtka will offer their observations on how design has evolved over the years.

Thomas Heatherwick sits on the Brainstorm Design Global Advisory Council and will be a speaker at 2018 Brainstorm Design